Re: how to limit download PDF access to subscribers only

We did something similar for AllNovaScotia.com, eventually tightening authentication until subscribers could only get their publication from one browser on one computer. It had to be this tight because we had a severe pass-around problem, to the extent that people who did not subscribe were calling for tech support. Your scheme will work, but unpatched IE 5.5 users will be a major problem. Some of these people are on corporate systems where they have no control over their desktops, and if the co. hasn't patched or upgraded IE they're stuck. We eventually ended up with two lists - a group who were able to use the system, and a few we had to mail issues to. The solution we finally reached was taking the publication offline for two months, jacking the subscription price from $8/mth to $20/mth & selling blocks of 10 subscriptions to businesses. The previous theory was that it was so inexpensive why would people not subscribe. What seems to be working now is that subscribers are paying a premium for local business news each day and they are a) more willing to refer and recommend the publication, and b) less likely to forward it by email. I know this is a bit off the main line of the thread, in that it's not a coding issue, but we're still looking for a way to lock down a publication so that only subsribers can see. Yes, Adobe has a solution, but it is very expensive. Best regards and good luck with this - Miles Thompson PS There will something in the archives on this. At 07:51 PM 8/7/2002 -0700, olinux wrote:

I would like to restrict downloads of PDF files to paid subscribers. We are a news publisher so most content will be free. But we would like to begin charging for downloads of PDF versions of our magazine and certain whitepapers and possibly access to archives of old news stories. Example: User clicks on "Download the August Issue". They go to screen to login or sign up and pay. They have the option to download this issue for $5 or 1 year membership (unlimited downloads) for $30. I am thinking something like this: PDF directory is chmod to 666 so only server can read content "Download PDF" link is a link to script that does the following: - Check Authentication - via cookie or session - if not - show login/subscribe page - if subscriber is paid - the script accesses the PDF and relays it to the user somehow. Thanks much, olinux - __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs http://www.hotjobs.com -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php